MotoGP News

Looks like Honda again this year, but Rossi is apparently pleased with the new Ducati. Spent a bit of time with Burgess at Valencia, and he was talking about the new bike there in November. Looks like he was right: a huge improvement.

At the bottom of the charts is the production based equipment. My friend Roberto Pietri's kid is next to last in the charts, 10 seconds off of Stoner's pace. Hopefully, he'll pick his time up. There is a large discussion about what is to be done with the small fields. Dorna is talking about all production based motors, but the factories are hesitant about doing that. Time will tell, but a 16 bike grid sucks, but then again you've got to have at least a relatively small differential between the vehicles.

Anyone else's thoughts?

Art

 

This is one of the most outrageous pictures I have ever seen:
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+1

 

Same corner I think with the Ducati MotoGP bike when it actually had some Ducati parts in it

Pete
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I expect a very competitive season this year, with Rossi not only competing for podiums, but I expect to see him win a few, if not challenge for the title. It should be an awesome season! I can't wait.

 

Every year the mainstream predictions seem off, but this year I agree with them and expect Stoner to rather easily win championship #3 assuming he stays healthy and uninjured.

Rossi will compete for podiums but wins will be hard to come by. IMO, he has a 50/50 chance of winning a race, and basically zero chance at the championship. Would love to be wrong though.

Lorenzo and Pedrosa will prove to be Stoner's biggest competition (out there prediction I know ).

Spies will be about as competitive as he was last year, the best of the rest. A spoiler for wins but not a real championship contender. Dovizioso will find his position lower in the field on the customer Yamaha.

CRT teams will be struggling to even qualify in the 107%, but all will be let in.

 

Dorna or the FIM (basically anyone who has the real money) should support smaller teams to help them with the cost of producing a competitive bike.

Kawasaki, Aprilia, and Suzuki might still be in the series (along with privateers such as Ilmor) if the costs to produce a competitve bike for the factory were reasonable.

 

I am not a Stoner fan and think Rossi made a monumental mistake by leaving Yamaha for Ducati so my hopes are all on Spies.

 

I like Vale and Nicky but agree, Ducati isn't the place to be.

big Spies fan too. I hope he can be the next American WC.

 

Ducati is coming back... as always do. They just cant compete with the big japanese... moneywise.

 

It wasn't his call.

Art

 

What I have read is that Yamaha would have been happy to retain him, but at a significantly lower salary, and lower than Lorenzo.

 

Ducati have better food than Yamaha.

 

There is no way Rossi should ever accept a lower salary than Lorenzo. Maybe Yamaha is experiencing Honda-itis, where after a few years of some success with Rossi, they no longer felt they needed him to carry on that success. Yes, Lorenzo had a better year, but who accounted for developing the bike? I think Yamaha's performance last year may give us some insight on that.

Ducati has the ability to become a player at any given time. With Rossi there, I believe it will come sooner than later. I would love to see Ducati consistently outpace Yamaha this upcoming season.......

 

But will the bike still be a Ducati? All Rossi and Burgess appear to be able to do development wise is request that the bike is more like his previous bikes ... soon Ducati will actually buy a Yamaha and paint it red.

Pete

 

Nonsense. The geometry of the Ducati wasn't right. Burgess knows that, and wanted a chassis that started with similar geometry to the Honda and Yamaha. Ducati got the message and has produced such a vehicle. When you get up close with these vehicles, they all look similar, and the reason is simple: this is what works. Just like jet planes, the physics dictates the design. Period. Same deal here, they all have forks, the wheel bases are similar, and the wheel sizes are identical. Form follows function.

Art

 

That isn't correct.

Art

 

So he was told to hit the bricks?

 

You have a PM

Art

 

Not sure I agree.

 

So as I said and you have agreed:

Pete

 

On his birthday, Valentino posted a tweet to Ducati, saying "Thanks for the wishes, this year we'll uphold the honor and name of Bologna of Ducati around the world!"

I like the sound of that.